BELLYACHING Synonyms: 70 Similar and Opposite Words

bellyaching

verb

present participle of bellyache

as in complaining

to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely tired of the kids bellyaching every time they're asked to mow the lawn or take out the trash

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of bellyaching You guys have dealt with bellyaching about creative license, as has The Odyssey and Resident Evil. — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 19 Aug. 2026 Public bellyaching sessions — sorry, hearings — have already begun, and the next ones will be held on May 2, 4, and 28. — Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 30 Apr. 2026 The phrase on the front led the group to burst into a bellyaching laughter. — Kansas City Star, 24 Mar. 2026 So stop the bleating and bellyaching over Bronzeville. — Colleen Kujawa, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026 But alas, developers Game Freak have opted to improve the aesthetics just enough to skirt online bellyaching rather than making any attempt to wow fans. — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 24 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bellyaching

Verb

The meta levels here (Seyfried playing Holmes complaining about Seyfried’s portrayal of her) may kill me.

— Emma Specter, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2026
These are often the same people complaining that America is raising a generation of wimps.

— Jonathan Alpert OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of complaining

Verb

At an intersection in Hyde Park that, days earlier, had been the scene of chaos — a young girl on the ground, a car with a teenage boy on the windshield, a mother screaming — Jonathan Hale led his band of rebels.

— Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Someone who people think is abrasive and is screaming ‘Love me,’ but punching people at the same time.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of screaming

Verb

While the left spent all week whining about Sophie Cunningham's hat and firing squad best practices, us PATRIOTS were biding our time, keeping our heads down, and grinding towards another weekend.

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Dogs may actually improve our sleep habits by forcing us to adjust to consistent bedtime schedules — as anyone with a sleepy, whining dog can confirm.

— Gina Vivinetto, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of whining

Verb

It's been a big few months for Austin Abrams moaning and groaning his way through some of the worst situations imaginable.

— Megan McCluskey, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
For a cold moment the silence locked a grip on our table, though it was broken, at the edges, by the golf commentators moaning and harrumphing, Rory McIlroy having had a canary on a seventeenth fairway somewhere this championship Sunday.

— Kevin Barry, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of moaning

Browse Nearby Words

bellyaches

bellyaching

belly flop

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“Bellyaching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bellyaching. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of bellyaching

verb

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